Wilton Manors, Florida – Six students during spring break overdosed on what appeared to be cocaine laced with fentanyl and were hospitalized in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, and one was in critical condition, CBS Miami Reporting. It happened at an Airbnb.
Four went into cardiac arrest after ingesting the drug before two friends tried to help them by performing CPR. That’s when they were also exposed to drugs, according to the station.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Battalion Chief Steve Gollan told CBS Miami that five were in stable condition.
Gollan told WPLG-TV that naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, was administered.
“They are healthy young adults, college students in their prime,” Gollan said. “With this drug in their system, it’s unclear what the critical individual’s recovery will be.”
He told CBS Miami that the incident “causes great concern that there could be more ODs over the next few days. Obviously, if there’s a bad batch, there’s no isn’t isolated to a single buyer. It normally goes to everyone who buys the same stuff from whoever they got it.”
A neighbor remarked to CBS Miami that “They look like good kids, typical college kids. They’re making a fuss in the pool, but they don’t deserve this.”
Fentanyl is an unpredictable and potent synthetic painkiller blamed for leading to an increase in fatal drug overdoses. It’s 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and used to treat severe pain, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It also slows down a person’s breathing and heart rate.
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